John K. Borchardt
Dr. Borchardt is a consultant and technical writer. The author of the book “Career Management for Scientists and Engineers,” he writes often on career-related subjects.
Articles by John K. Borchardt
Even if your laboratory is not allowed to hire many new employees, the long-tem unemployed – chemists, other scientists, engineers and lab technicians unemployed for six months or more – can offer a valuable resource of you can persuade your budget p
| 2 min read
Multitasking has become part of the productive professional's persona. Walking through business corridors, through airports and while driving, the professional is constantly communicating with the mindset of communicating or learning critical informa
| 2 min read
Today's advent of distributed, massive-scale "cloud computing" is something of a return to the early 1980s, when computing was of a different sort. Rather than individual desktop or laptop machines, which are the current norm, workplace computers wer
| 2 min read
Lab managers can play an important role in the process of filing patent applications on staff members' inventions. The stakes are often high when patenting a new product or process. So it's important to get everything right. Nowhere is this truer tha
| 2 min read
In last week's blog, I discussed five ways to increase their report writing speed. There is also a sixth approach lab managers can use to get reports written and issued quickly: hire a technical writer to write the report. However, this approach has
| 3 min read
If your laboratory has its own dedicated power plant or is part of an industrial facility, you may be able to drastically reduce the amount of energy you purchase while reducing your labs carbon footprint.
| 5+ min read
Writing reports can be a pain. Writing takes lab managers away from other work and isolates them behind a desk. Yet timely reports can be necessary, even essential in running a laboratory. So it is essential that laboratory managers write productivel
| 3 min read
General economic conditions have many lab employees concerned about their continued employment. This is particularly the case if their laboratory has undergone a staff reduction. Some big pharmaceutical companies even have closed entire large laborat
| 2 min read
"The chemical industry is leaving the United States, and it won't be back," said Peter Huntsman, CEO of chemical firm Huntsman Corp. "When demand picks back up, they'll build new capacity overseas--in the Middle East, Singapore and China." He was quo
| 2 min read
Lab managers are limited in what they can do to restore lab staff morale. Still, modest measures can go a long way. Just knowing lab managers care can be reassuring. So lab managers should do what they can to resolve issues such as equitable distribu
| 2 min read
Many laboratories are not happy places anymore. The recession and slow recovery have seen to that. A recent survey released by the Workforce Institute at Kronos Inc. and conducted by Harris Interactive suggests that many employees are not feeling ver
| 2 min read
Many labs' budgets and staff time to prepare documents and presentations are quite limited. One way to make the most of this time may be to revise and update existing print documents for posting on company websites. By taking advantage of the unique
| 2 min read
Turning your researchers into consultants for your customers has at least three advantages. First, in ever more fierce global competition, your firm is selling not just a product but a product and technical service. Your customers will be speaking to
| 3 min read
When it comes to clothes, University of California, Berkeley researchers have given new meaning to the term "power suit." They have created energy-scavenging nanofibers that could one day be woven into clothing and textiles. "This technology could ev
| 2 min read
I've been rereading some of Peter Drucker's books on management. Even though some of these books are over thirty years old, Drucker was quite prescient in discussing trends shaping the business world and the results of these trends. Many of these res
| 2 min read
